The ESRC have announced their New Investigator Grant scheme. This scheme is suitable for early career researchers who have yet to make the transition to be an independent researcher. Proposals are welcome in any topic which falls within the ESRC’s remit, including projects at the “interface with the wider sciences”, provided that social sciences accounts for at least 50% of the proposed research. The ESRC will award grants of between £100-300K (covered at 80% fEC).
The call will open on 25 May 2023, and the next deadline for submitting to the ESRC is 28 September 2023. The recommended project start date is eight months after submission.
University Internal selection
The ESRC expect the University to run an internal selection process to ensure that we submit only bids from outstanding individuals with the potential to become research leaders of the future. The University may submit only a limited number of applications. To meet these requirements, this call will be overseen by a cross-school Committee, as decided by University’s Research Policy Committee.
There are three internal calls every year (in March, June, and October). Only applicants whose proposals have been approved through the internal selection process will be allowed to proceed with submission of their applications to the ESRC.
Interested applicants should submit an online application.
You will be required to upload the following:
- Your research project proposal (template provided within the online application form)
- A letter of support from your Head of Department
This letter is very important to the success of the application as it is needed to confirm the details of the departmental support and the applicant’s eligibility. The letter must also specify a department-/faculty-based mentor and a reviewer, both having agreed to provide feedback on the full proposal if the applicant is selected to proceed. The reviewer may be from within or outside the applicant’s department/faculty. Please note that naming a reviewer is an internal requirement, and the reviewer will not be named on the full application to the ESRC. The mentor and the named reviewer will be expected to provide feedback on the full proposal prior to submission to the ESRC. This will be coordinated by the School Research Facilitator.
- An X5 PDF report
The report should show the preliminary costing for the project, including the cost of the applicant’s salary and research assistance (if required). The X5 should not be submitted for ROO approval at this stage; the costing is for indicative purposes only to inform the internal selection. It will be possible to modify it after the internal selection.
If you have any questions, please write to ESRCNewInv@admin.cam.ac.uk.